Aljamain Sterling has given his take on who he feels truly won the UFC 297 main event.
Sean Strickland put the UFC Middleweight Championship at stake against Dricus Du Plessis on January 20. Both men shared the Octagon for five hard-fought rounds. Ultimately, it was Du Plessis who was awarded the UFC middleweight gold via split decision.
Since the fight was close, there has been some debate over whether or not “DDP” earned the decision.
Aljamain Sterling Assesses UFC 297 Main Event
Aljamain Sterling had a live chat with fans on YouTube discussing the UFC 297 fight between Du Plessis and Strickland. He revealed which rounds he felt were a lock.
“Round one, Sean Strickland. Round five, Sean Strickland,” Sterling said. “Round four, Du Plessis. Now, the throwaway rounds, which are the swing rounds, in my opinion, were rounds two and three. I think if you could make the argument for round three, that’s Du Plessis’ round. I actually think he did a little bit more in terms of activity.”
Then, there is the second stanza. He revealed who he gave the edge to in that round.
“In round two, I thought Sean landed the cleaner strikes,” Sterling said. “Du Plessis was trying to be more active. He swung more, there was more output but I thought Strickland was a little bit more accurate and I think his shots did more damage in the second round.”
During the post-fight press conference, UFC CEO Dana White shared his opinion that he felt Strickland won the fight. Sterling slightly agrees.
“I’ve been there before where he thought Yan won the fight with me in a very close fight, but if you go back and look at the strikes, I’m not saying Dana was wrong. I tend to agree with him on this one, but not by much.”
Dricus Du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya Next?
When discussing who the first contender will be for Du Plessis, Sterling seemed convinced that Israel Adesanya will return from his hiatus and fight for the middleweight hardware next.
“I don’t know if there’s any clear-cut contender next in line for the belt,” Sterling said. “Of course, you got Izzy coming off of a loss to Sean. Should he get an immediate title shot after coming off of a very dominant one-sided loss because there’s history? Guys, we’ve seen this movie. It’s on the wall, he’s probably gonna get the next shot.”
Sterling admitted that he feels there are other 185-pounders with more merit for a title shot. “Funk Master” made it clear that he’s not saying it would be right or wrong for Adesanya to get another title fight.
Here is the full video of Aljamain Sterling breaking down UFC 297 & what’s next for Dricus Du Plessis:
